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Some are defensive some are offensive. Someone like Qualcomm uses them to get a percentage of every device but also uses them to protect themselves against oth
by sumtechguy 5y ago
Some are defensive some are offensive. Someone like Qualcomm uses them to get a percentage of every device but also uses them to protect themselves against other companies, as they also sell chipsets. Also patents expire. So they may have one but after the time limit they are not really worth much anymore other than a defense. Would limiting the number they hold really help? Think one chipset they had to pull was over some what most people would consider the most tiny of features. Plus limiting would not really put a dent in many of these companies I am sure they would think of some way around it.
- bjuly 5y agoGood point, sumtechguy! I agree limiting numbers might not really help. However, giving startups the tools to understand the patent game might help a lot. What do you think?
- sumtechguy 5y agoThe tools unfortunately are not good. As it is a wild mix of case law, actual law, and cherry picked venues. Then add into that different patent government/private regulatory bodies that enforce it unevenly, too much or not at all. Most of the companies I have worked at they had the process down pretty good. But if I remember right the average to get one was 2-3 years, with a few dozen rejections in there. Most of that was getting the verbiage right to make it sound unique and have proper claims. But if you wanted to make it easier for people to do it you would have to probably convince a patent attorney to help write it up and how to make it work, and defend it. This is not really a 'software' problem but more of a people/process/politics problem.